Sharing Rides to Planica
BACKGROUND
Despite perceiving Slovenia as a green country, the CO2 emissions statistics in the transportation sector paint a different picture. Considering the population size, Slovenia is, with 9% above the European average, the third biggest polluter in the EU in terms of traffic. Large sports events, such as the Ski Jumping World Cup Finals in Planica, where more than 50% of CO2 emissions are attributed to transport, also pose a significant burden. Therefore, Mastercard and Planica set an important goal: to reduce the number of cars in Planica in 2023.
IDEA
Mastercard, together with Planica, creates a car-sharing platform shareplanica.si under the slogan "Sharing Rides in PlanCO2". On the platform, Planica's visitors can post their ride or join the rides posted by others. Visitors who share and post their ride on shareplanica.si receive a VIP parking spot and a food and drink voucher worth 25 euros.
But how much CO2 emissions can we actually save with 1 shared ride to Planica? A lot! To inform the public about the carbon footprint of transport, we collaborate with the Energy Efficiency Center of the Jožef Stefan Institute. We compare the numbers on the CO2 footprint of transport to Planica from various places in Slovenia with the operation of various electronic devices. Thus, we inform the public that a single LJ-PLANICA-LJ ride is responsible for the same amount of CO2 emissions as generated by a 7 W LED bulb (equivalent to a 60 W incandescent bulb) switched on for 1.5 years, 1 year of constant mobile phone charging, 74 days of continuously running dishwasher, 15 days of heating a 120 square meter house with an electric heat pump, or 34 days of a switched on refrigerator.
EXECUTION
The impressive comparisons by the "Jožef Stefan" Institute and calls for shared rides flood Slovenia on all possible communication channels: TV ad, OOH, print ads, digital ads, social networks, PR, cooperation with Radio 1. The first rides to Planica are shared by influencers who join the project: Jernej Damjan, Jurij Tepeš, Miha Deželak, Katka Bogataj, Urška Ahac, Uroš Bitenc, Lucija Odar, Jan Filip Jordan Frangeš. The project is also supported by important companies (NLB, Triglav Insurance, Big Bang, Laško Union Brewery and Slovenian Sports Lottery), who communicate on their social networks and internal communication.
Even though we significantly reduce the number of cars, there is still a huge number of personal vehicles arriving in Planica on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, namely 6563. Therefore, Mastercard, as part of the Priceless Planet Coalition initiative, concludes the project by planting 10,913 mature trees, exactly the number needed to absorb the CO2 footprint of 6563 vehicles. This is a 21,826-euro donation. Let’s preserve what is truly Priceless®.
Planica has always brought all of Slovenia together, but this time it also joined the whole of Slovenia in active care for the environment. With the saved amount of CO2 due to shared rides, according to the calculations of the Jožef Stefan Institute, we could heat a 120-square-metre house with an electric heat pump for 19 years, use a washing machine non-stop for 7 years, run a refrigerator for 40 years, wash dishes with a dishwasher non-stop for 90 years, charge a mobile phone non-stop for 453 years, keep a 7 W LED bulb (equivalent to a 60 W incandescent bulb) on for 650 years, and travel around the world 1.7 times in a petrol car.
Dr. Franci Petek, Director of the RS Planica Sports Institute, commented on the project: “What we would achieve in a whole year by turning off the lights, we achieve here with just one ride. I really welcome every such action. And I must say, SharePlanica is truly the queen among these actions.”
RESULTS
rides posted
transported passengers
kilometres saved
less of CO2 footprint
donation for tree planting
trees planted